Thank you very much, Mr. Chair, and thank you to the witnesses.
Mr. von Finckenstein, the report in which you found Ms. Verschuren guilty of breaking the law by violating the Conflict of Interest Act merely scratches the surface of corruption and conflict in the green slush fund. The Auditor General identified 186 conflicts of interest involving board members, involving 330 million taxpayer dollars.
When you appeared at the industry committee last month, you were asked by Mr. Perkins if you were going to initiate investigations into these many other conflicts of interest. You indicated that you had not. You further said, as a rationale, “When they are no longer in office, what good does it serve to expose them?”
You just said, in concluding your remarks, that this is not part of your mandate, so why are you not taking steps to look into these other 186 conflicts of interest, which did involve, potentially, board members who were appointed by way of order in council?